BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Bridgewater State University head coach, Mike Caruso, was selected as the Little East Conference (LEC) Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Coach of the Year.

Caruso guided the BSU men's swimming & diving team to its second straight conference title this past weekend at the 2023 Little East Swimming & Diving Championships held at the Boston Sports Institute in Wellesley.

The men's squad recorded top honors in ten events at the championship meet. The Bears also produced ten second-place and seven third-place showings. Junior Cooper Castellone (South Windsor, Conn.) paced Bridgewater State with three individual gold medal performances in the 50 breaststroke (27.21), 100 breaststroke (58.88) and 200 breaststroke (2:10.46). Castellone, who was also part of two winning relays (400 medley, 400 freestyle), set meet records in both the 50 and 200 breaststroke.

Junior Joseph Pervier (Baldwinville, Mass.) grabbed a pair of Little East titles in the 50 freestyle (21.88) and 100 freestyle (47.78), while freshman Brady Callahan (Taunton, Mass.) placed first in the 50 backstroke (25.28) and 100 backstroke (54.23). Pervier, who was also part of three winning relays (200 medley, 400 medley, 400 freestyle) set a meet record in the 100 free.

The BSU women's swimming & diving team placed second at the conference championship meet led by freshman Cailey Simard (Haverhill, Mass.). Simard captured the league title on both the one-meter (436.70 pts.) and three-meter (440.40 pts.) diving boards, and, in the process, eclipsed meet and program records for an 11-dive score in each event.

The Bears also finished second in five events at the meet led by a trio of runner-up performances by junior Olivia Ranck (Wilbraham, Mass.). Ranck, who produced a team-best 51 points at the meet, finished second in the 100 backstroke (1:01.42), 200 backstroke (2:13.73) and 100 individual medley (1:03.58). She also set school records in both the 100 back and 200 back.

The BSU swimming and divings teams had a total of 119 event performances at the Little East Championships, (all relay events, all swim events, and all diving events). Out of the 119 performances, 115 of them were a season best for a whopping 97%.